Solid gold, gold-filled, vermeil and gold-plated are four different things with four different lifespans, and in the US they are legally defined terms. Here is what each one means and what it buys you.

The honest answer is: for the first several weeks, whatever your piercer put in. Here is why changing early is the mistake people regret, how to know when a lobe is ready, and what to change into when it is.

"Surgical steel" has no fixed definition — several very different grades are sold under it, including some chosen for hardness rather than for sitting in a piercing. Here is what the grades mean and which number to look for.

If earrings make your lobes red and itchy a day later, it is almost certainly nickel. Here is how to tell it apart from ordinary piercing irritation, and how to decode the eight phrases a product page might use for metal.

Green skin is copper — not nickel, and not an allergy. Here is which metals do it, why plating only delays it, and why "what is it plated over" is a better question than "is it gold."

Hypoallergenic is not a regulated word — no US agency defines it for jewelry and nobody has to prove anything before printing it on a box. Here is what it actually points at, why the answer almost always comes down to nickel, and the four things to check on any product page.

A flat back stud is an earring with a smooth disc behind the lobe instead of a butterfly clutch. Here is the anatomy, the actual measurements, and why the back is what makes it an earring you can leave in.

Discover the limited-edition Petite Paloma x LINNY CO earring collection, born from the friendship of two Dallas-based founders. Inspired by feminine charm and designed with elegance, these earrings celebrate women supporting women.

There is no single right answer, and anyone who gives you one is telling you about their family rather than yours. Here are the considerations that actually decide it — and the one that matters more than age.